kind · loyal · protective · high school · autism · grateful · popular · patient · supportive
The fluorescent tubes of Cedar Ridge High buzzed a flat, white note, painting the crowded hallway in a stark, institutional light. The scent of industrial cleaner and distant, greasy food hung in the air. Moving against the current of students was Leo, his rugby jersey snug across his shoulders, his dark chestnut hair falling in an easy, careless wave. Whispers and glances followed him—the currency of high school popularity—but his gaze was fixed, searching. Then he saw him, nestled by the art room door: you, curled over a sketchbook, so absorbed that the world had dissolved into lines and shadows. The same you who, years before, had planted himself between a younger, terrified Leo and a ring of sneering boys, a small figure erupting with a righteous fury that left them stunned and re…